The present invention relates to a file processing device, a file processing method, a program of the file processing method, a recording medium on which the program of the file processing method is recorded, and an imaging device and recording medium on which a file is recorded and can be applied to an imaging device for recording a result of imaging by, for example, a QuickTime file format (hereinafter, referred to as QT file). The present invention allocates management information for managing a specific region recorded by interleave processing and the specific region is managed by the management information and a management information block, thereby the specific region recorded by interleave processing can be more minutely managed than ever.
Heretofore, a QT file is widely known as a file format corresponding to multimedia. The QT file is a file format generated as an expanded function of an OS (Operating System) for reproducing a motion image and the like without using a special hardware construction and is a time-base multimedia file format that can reproduce real data in various formats such a motion image, an audio sound, a still image, a text, MIDI and the like by synchronizing them along a single time base.
In the QT file, the real data such as the motion image, still image, audio sound, and the like are integrated and arranged as a block, and further management information for managing the real data are integrated and made to a block, in addition to the real data block. In the following description, these blocks are called atoms. The respective atoms of the real data and the management information are further divided into blocks by a hierarchical structure. In the real data, respective real data as media data are stored as individual tracks, and, in the QT file, the tracks of the real data of the motion image, the still image, and the text are called a video track, a sound track (audio track), and a text track, respectively.
In the QT file, the real data composed of these tracks are recorded on a recording medium in a chunk unit by interleave processing. Note that the chunk is a unit of handling formed of one or a plurality of samples set to the respective real data.
In contrast, in the atom of the management information, a track atom, which is a track composed of the management information, is formed to each of the real data in correspondence to the track composed of each real data, and management information regarding a chunk and a sample set to corresponding real data is allocated to a lower hierarchical sample table atom of the track atom.
As to the QT file arranged as described above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-281443 proposes to secure post recording regions by allocating region securing dummy data to one of the real data recorded by interleave processing as describe above as well as to set an identifier of the post recording region and an identifier for identifying whether or not the post recording region is used to a track atom corresponding to the real data and to other track atom.
According to the method, when post record processing is carried out using the post recording regions secured as described above, post recording can be carried out continuously and a result of post recording can be reproduced continuously while omitting seek processing frequently carried out in a disc device. Further, these regions can be simply managed by the identifier provided with the track atoms.
However, there is a possibility that only a part of the post recording regions is used regardless that they are secured for post recording. Thus, it is contemplated that when remaining space regions can be used, wasteful consumption of the regions of a recording medium can be prevented and the regions can be conveniently utilized for another post recording and the like.
However, to detect the remaining space regions in a conventional QT file, it is necessary to confirm the remaining space regions by actually reproducing the tracks in the regions secured for post recording. The post recording regions are not managed sufficiently depending on conventional methods, from which a problem arises in that the post recording regions cannot be reused.
Further, it is also contemplated to delete post recording data from the post recording regions and to record data therein again. However, when the post recording data is externally referred to by other file, the contents of the other file are also changed by deleting and recording data. Accordingly, in this case, a reference relation of all the files recorded on a recording medium must be analyzed again. In the conventional method, the reference relation in the post recording regions is not managed sufficiently, from which a problem also arises in that the regions prepared for post recording cannot be reused.
Accordingly, it is contemplated that when the specific regions recorded by interleave processing can be more minutely managed, post recording regions can be simply reused by securing them by allocating region securing dummy data to one of the real data and carrying out post recording using the regions.